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SCHOOL-BASED ENTERPRISE
SCHOOL-BASED
ENTERPRISE
INSTRUCTIONAL
UNITS
MARKETING-INFORMATION
MANAGEMENT
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SCHOOL-BASED ENTERPRISE
INSTRUCTIONAL UNITS
TOPIC:
MARKETING-INFORMATION
MANAGEMENT
If a business is to be successful in the marketplace, it must first conduct both
market and marketing research. While market research refers to collecting
information about the market, marketing research involves collecting
information about how marketing activities affect the consumer. The information
collected through marketing research helps a business predict how its customers
will respond to changes in other marketing functions. Being able to predict
customers’ behavior allows a business to better meet those customers’ needs and
wants.
There are different kinds of marketing research. Quantitative research refers
to collected information that can be measured numerically, while qualitative
research involves information that focuses on the characteristics of some entity.
This could be a product, an idea, a behavior, a place, etc. Qualitative information
cannot be measured numerically. A salesperson may ask a customer, “How many
times do you shop for groceries per month?” The salesperson is performing, albeit
very casually, quantitative research. The customer will respond with a numerical
value such as once per week or three times per month. Alternatively, a salesperson
who asks a customer what they like about shopping at a privately owned market
versus a larger chain grocery store is performing qualitative research.
While the ability to best meet customers’ wants and needs is the ultimate goal
of marketing research, this goal is somewhat abstract. A business must first
define what it needs to know before it can work towards better responding to its
customers. This is known as problem definition. By defining an issue to which a
solution must be found, a business is categorically specifying how the solution will
help it better serve its customers. Consider your SBE. Perhaps you’ve noticed that
sweatshirt sales have been lagging. You are not certain why sales have slowed, but
you’d like to know why so you can address the issue and correct it so that sales will
increase. You’ve just defined your problem.
WHY
MARKETINGINFORMATION
MANAGEMENT?
A business needs to meet
the needs of its customers
in order to generate revenue
and continue to operate.
Marketing-information
management refers to
the multiple strategies
businesses use to determine
who their customers are,
what product needs they
have, and how marketing
activities affect their buying
habits.
OBJECTIVES
• Scan marketplace
to determine factors
that could influence
merchandising decisions.
• Analyze competitors’
offerings.
The next step in performing marketing research is obtaining data. Both secondary and primary sources of data can be helpful,
and there are several types of each. Secondary data are data which have already been collected for prior research. Examples
include information obtained on the Internet, research reports, and business publications. One of the major advantages of
using secondary data for marketing research is that it already exists, so a business does not have to spend large amounts of
money conducting a study on its own in order to acquire useful information.
Primary data are data collected for specific research and for the first time. Primary data can be collected by the business in
need of the data or by a company hired by the business to perform the research. There are several ways to collect primary
data including surveys, interviews, observations, and experiments. The students operating your SBE most likely perform
primary data collection using at least one of these methods.
A survey is a questionnaire distributed to a group of individuals for the purpose of acquiring information about those
individuals. Marketers may use surveys to determine customers’ needs through the asking of both closed-ended and openended questions. Surveys are not conducted in person but rather over the phone, through the mail, or online. Your SBE
may distribute surveys to the students and faculty in your school asking them to rate, on a scale of 1 to 10, how strongly they
feel about the SBE’s potential introduction of a new product line. In addition to
the rating scale, the survey might also include questions such as “Do you like
smoothies?” (closed-ended) and “What flavors of smoothies would you like to see
offered in our SBE?” (open-ended).
Think of an interview as an in-person survey. You may ask your interviewees
similar questions to those you’d include on a survey, but the answers they provide
may be more informative or detailed due to the conversational nature of the
in-person interview. In-person interviews also have the added benefit of a more
likely response; an individual is much more likely to answer a question posed to
them by a person than they are to fill out a mailed form or answer questions on the
telephone.
Observations are conducted in various ways and can be formal or informal.
Formal observations include those made by hidden cameras and mystery
shoppers, both of which are intended to yield information about the habits and
behaviors of a business’s customers. Informal observations are those made on
a day-to-day basis by a business’s staff people. A sales associate at a cosmetics
counter observes the clientele of the brand. They are aware of the various age
groups, ethnicities, and skin types represented by their customers, and the sales
associate eventually comes to know how such factors affect those customers’
purchase decisions.
KEY TERMS
Market research
Marketing research
Quantitative research
Qualitative research
Problem definition
Secondary data
Primary data
Survey
Interview
Observation
Experiment
Sample
Population
Experiments involve altering an element of the marketing mix to determine if that
element affects consumer behavior. Perhaps a business wants to see if the color of
its packaging truly impacts sales of a certain product. In one region, the product
packaging is bright yellow with bright green text. In another region (similar to
the first in terms of size, demographic, etc. to ensure that the experiment is only
testing one variable), the product packaging is dark blue with grey text. Over a specified amount of time the business will
observe which region’s products boast better sales, therefore determining which type of packaging had a greater impact on
the business’s bottom line. Experimentation is the most expensive of marketing research data collection methods. A lot of
money is tied up in changing aspects of the market simply so they can be tested.
Regardless of the data collection method used, though, a business must be careful when selecting the sample from which
to collect the data. A sample is a portion of the greater population. The population refers to a target market, and a sample
of this target market must be representative of the group as a whole if the data collected from it is to yield reliable results.
Your SBE wouldn’t survey only teachers or only tenth-graders, because these groups are mere segments of the population.
Instead, your SBE should survey a group of students from all grade levels and faculty that includes individuals representing
all characteristics of the population at large.
REFERENCES
Farese, Lois Schneider, Grady Kimbrell, and Carl A. Woloszyk. “Marketing Information
Management.” Unit 9 in Marketing Essentials. Columbus, OH: The McGraw-Hill
Companies, Inc., 2012.
Schmeltzer, John. “Mcdonald’s cooks up big burger.” Chicago Tribune, March 8,
2007. http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070308/news_1b8mcdonalds.html
(accessed September 5, 2012).
Thomson Reuters. “McDonald’s testing angus burgers in L.A.” NCBNews.com,
December 7, 2006. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16090509/ns/business-us_
business/t/mcdonalds-testing-angus-burgers-la/ (accessed September 5, 2012).
CLASSROOM ACTIVITY
You will identify a problem in your SBE to which you would
like to find a solution. You will then collect primary data
using one of the methods discussed in this pamphlet,
evaluate the data, and determine how you will use the data
to implement a positive change in your SBE.
Answer the following questions to help you conduct your
marketing research:
1. Identify and describe an issue or problem your
SBE is currently facing.
2. Why do you think this is an issue? Are there
competitors that deal with the issue more
successfully than your SBE does?
3. What method of primary data collection will
you use—survey, interview, observation, or
experiment? Why?
4. Identify and describe the sample of individuals from which you will collect your data.
5. What does the data you collected reveal?
6. How does the data you collected differ from your hypothesis (your answer to Question 2)?
7. How can you use this data to implement a positive change in your SBE?
CASE STUDY
Even a business as popular as McDonald’s needs to routinely collect data to determine what kinds of products it should both
continue to offer and to introduce for the first time. McDonald’s classic products such as the Quarter Pounder, the Happy
Meal, and World Famous Fries will most likely always enjoy permanent spots on the menu of the fast-food chain. Even so,
McDonald’s is constantly reviewing the performance of its products and considering new ones to appeal to the target market.
While McDonald’s takes great pride in its history as an American institution, it also wants to be seen as a modern restaurant
that can adapt to its times and the evolving tastes of its customers. The relatively recent market testing and introduction of
McDonald’s Angus line of hamburgers demonstrated how the business performs thorough research before implementing a
change in its restaurants.
In the early and mid-2000s, McDonald’s responded to Americans’ growing interest in health and fitness by expanding its
chicken product line. Many people consider chicken to be a healthier alternative to beef, and McDonald’s capitalized on this
notion with the introduction of such items as the Grilled and Crispy Snack Wraps and Chicken Selects. While the new chicken
offerings were well received, McDonald’s is primarily known for its hamburgers and didn’t want to stray too far from that
perception. In 2006, McDonald’s tested three different kinds of hamburgers made with Angus beef in southern California. The
hamburgers were larger and more expensive than other burgers on the McDonald’s menu and were introduced to compete
with premium hamburgers offered at other fast-food chains such as Hardees and Carl’s Jr. The “restaurant-style” sandwiches
enjoyed impressive sales in each of the six southern California counties where they were tested. Hamburgers are very popular
in this particular region of the U.S., so McDonald’s’ choice to introduce the “Third Pounders,” as the burgers are called, was a
sound one. The performance of the Deluxe, Bacon and Cheese, and Mushroom and Swiss varieties of the burger prompted the
restaurant chain to permanently add them to its menu. The nationwide launch of the Angus Third Pounder in 2009 marked the
first new hamburger added to the menu since 2001—and a return to McDonald’s’ roots as an American hamburger restaurant.